# Help with colors?



## Pfff (Nov 25, 2013)

I'm just really bad at matching colors and I need some help! I've recently began painting my nails in other colors than clear, and I want to buy some colored polishes  /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />. I've looked up online which colors would best suit me, but I can't decide how to classify my skin. Also I have very small nail beds.

This is what my skin/hair looks like (the photo was taken in the shade):





Any color suggestions? What colors should I avoid?


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## hotpinkglitter (Jan 28, 2014)

It looks like you have fair skin with pink undertones like me 






The colors that look best on me are those with cool/blue undertones. For example, royal purples, subdued reds, navy/darker blues, and purplish-pinks. Basically, the colors should be cool rather than warm if that makes sense to you? Although it's more about personal preference than anything, IMO. I wear any color I think is pretty


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## Pfff (Jan 31, 2014)

So, I ended up picking some polishes by Rimmel (the brush is great, and the texture too). Blue vogue and fancy fuchsia, which seemed to match your descriptions of colors that would fit me. (Also I just happened to love those colors).

Thanks sooo much!


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## hotpinkglitter (Jan 31, 2014)

No problem! If you need any more help please don't hesitate to ask! I love Rimmel polishes as well


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## marie4u (Feb 10, 2014)

Rimmel polishes are my most favourite ones.


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## howi (Feb 10, 2014)

Quote: Originally Posted by *Pfff* /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  I'm just really bad at matching colors and I need some help! I've recently began painting my nails in other colors than clear, and I want to buy some colored polishes  /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />. I've looked up online which colors would best suit me, but I can't decide how to classify my skin. Also I have very small nail beds.

This is what my skin/hair looks like (the photo was taken in the shade):





Any color suggestions? What colors should I avoid?

This will help you decide on which color you should apply &gt; The Nail-Polish Color for Your Zodiac Sign

Hope it helps...  /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />





Beauty Benefits Of Love - A Place For Every Beauty, Makeup, Fashion, Astrology and Relationship Matters


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## Monika1 (Feb 15, 2014)

@Pfff, I'm glad that @hotpinkglitter answered your question. I was having trouble being sure of your skin-tone based on the photo because some ladies and gents with red hair are cool and some are warm, and I know how misleading photos can sometimes be. I was going to suggest this, and will still mention it in case others are wondering about matching colours for polishes, clothes, and makeup, etc.: You can identify whether your skin is warm, cool, or neutral a few ways. 1) If you can see them, look at the veins under your skin. If they are purple or bluish, you're generally cool; and if they're greenish, you're generally warm. If you find they're in between blue and green, you might be neutral. 2) Look at your skin. Do you see a pink undertone or a bluish tinge to your skin? That suggests cool. If you see more peach, orange, or yellow, it suggests warm. 3) Look at the jewelry colours you prefer. If gold looks really good on you, it suggests warm. If silver and platinum are more flattering, it suggests cool. If you really just like gold because it's special, well, remember that there is also white gold, and if that looks better on you than yellow gold, it suggests cool... and expensive tastes.  /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> 4) Look at the clothing that looks good on you. Cool-toned skin tends to suit white, icy and sapphire blues, vibrant and soft clear purples, (sometimes clear or blue-leaning greens), pinks, silvers, and black (of course many people with all types of skin like black clothing). Warm-toned skin tends to suit reds, rusts, oranges, (sometimes peaches and yellowy-turquoises), coppers, golds, yellows, mossy greens, and browns. Neutral toned folks can more easily wear many colours from both of these lists. And many colours suit cool and warm people depending on their nature - a 'cool' red has more blue or purple in it and will suit cool-toned skin better; where a 'warm' red has more orange in it and will suit warm-toned skin better. This is about generalities.

Cool and warm has nothing to do with the depth of your skin-tone, just the qualities of the undertones.

The other thing I wanted to mention is that though most of us suit certain colours better than others, and it's a good place to start for choosing nail polish that works for you, polish is a fun way to experiment with colour outside of your typical 'best colours'. I have a cool complexion too, but I have polishes that are every colour of the rainbow. As you play with colour, you will find there can be colours you really like on the nails even if you might not want wear them close to your face. I have never found an orange piece of clothing I thought looked good on me, but I have a clear, crisp orange that really works on my nails, especially in the summer when I have a bit of a tan. I also use a few of these 'more foreign' colours in nail art projects. Don't limit yourself based on a colour family rule!

In terms of matching colours, some people are diligent in keeping the polish coordinated with their wardrobe of the day. Many don't worry about that. The nails are fairly small and removed from the overall impression, so I wouldn't stress about it. If I haven't decided what to wear, I might look at my nails to guide the choice. For special occasions you may want to plan the nail polish to go with the attire. But note I say 'go' and not 'match'. I don't think, given current fashion trend, there is any need, or even benefit, to generally coordinating to have exactly the same colour polish as clothing. Especially as if a person has a cool skin-tone, many of their polishes will be in cool colours and will consistently go with their generally cool wardrobe! Done! Don't stress. Pick what you love and have fun!


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## Pfff (Feb 15, 2014)

I saw some of those tips but I had some problems with them.

For example my veins are bluish or greenish depending on how you look at them. And my skin looks yellowish compared to other people (I am like completely yellow compared to my best friend), but I still can see a clear pinkish undertone on my hands. I tried comparing gold and silver, but I really couldn't stray from the fact that reddish blond and gold look like I'm overdoing the "gold" thing (I usually wear silver things, but maybe just because I like silver). And the only colors that I could define that I liked on me are blue or cyan (which I was told that it wasn't very defining) and I dislike how beige colored stuff looks on me. I tried picking some differently colored items and putting them next to my face to see how it looked but I really couldn't notice if they suited me or not.

That's actually a very good advice. I borrowed some greenish polish (Revlon, but I can't remember the color... it was one of those scented ones) from my cousin and it really didn't do me any favors  /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />. Experimenting is fun, but maybe I'll do it with cheaper polishes haha. In my country Rimmel is expensive! I was actually thinking of raiding the Colorama polishes to try on some colors since they are very cheap and it has a lot of colors. So I won't feel bad if I only use it once or twice haha.

I agree, I wouldn't really match my nails with my every day wardrobe... I picked a bright pink and a dark blue so I can match it to basically most stuff I own (which is mostly black, white, and cyan). There are only a few articles of clothing I can't match to one or the other (like a chocolate brown t-shirt I own. I don't think I like it with any of those colors, but I might save it for a day in which I don't have any nail polish). I don't have time to do my nails every day... particularly with this polish that takes ages to dry haha.


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## Monika1 (Feb 21, 2014)

Too true! A lot of polish does take ages to dry, especially with multiple coats, but I have a great suggestion for dealing with that. It's really worthwhile to invest in a Quick/Fast/Rapid Dry Top Coat. It makes the process of polishing your nails a lot easier because the top coat dries and forms a hard shell over the polish; over time the polish beneath cures further, but overall it makes the manicure more resistant to damage sooner - important when you're trying to get other things done! Different people have different favourites - a few options are Cult Nails Wicked Fast, Nubar Diamont, HK Girl, Poshe, and Seche. Quick-dry drops can help too.


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## Pfff (Feb 25, 2014)

I can't get any of those where I live sadly  /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />. The only brands we get are Maybelline, Revlon, Rimmel, L'Oreal I think? I've seen some Sally Hansen, and they sell OPI in one place but it costs too much because of importation costs and such. (Really too much. I doubt they are selling more than one of those a month, which also makes me wonder the state of those nail polishes). Any of those (the ones purchasable, at least) are anywhere near more or less good?

I have a top coat polish, but it's not the rapid dry kind. I have one of Revlon's "Extra Life" top coats, which is among the best you can get here. But it's not very good, it takes off a bit of the color polish (unless it's Revlon. I tried once with a Revlon color and it worked fine. It's just awful for the rest... but I don't like Revlon colors, they are just very limited and very dull, at least the ones we can get here).

I study something related to computer programming, so I just do my nails while I'm programming. It's harder to mess up your polish if the only thing you're doing is typing (although, I manage to screw up my nails a surprisingly big amount of times considering that...)


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## Nic1986 (Feb 26, 2014)

I, personally, love all of those brands and they make up most of my polish collection. You and I have about the same hair color and skin tone, and I prefer greyish greens, neutrals, blue toned pinks, dark reds and purples. When I first started collecting polish, I stayed with "safe" colors (fawns, light pinks, ect), as I've polished more I've gotten a little more daring with my color choices. Most of them I like, some I don't, usually the colors I'm not impressed with are used for accent nails or nail art


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## Monika1 (Feb 28, 2014)

Hi @Nic1986 - if you have a lot of experience with the brands Maybelline, Revlon, Rimmel, L'Oreal, Sally Hansen, and OPI, the question is: which brand has a Fast/Rapid/Quick Drying Topcoat that your could recommend and what is it called? Thanks!


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## Nic1986 (Feb 28, 2014)

This is a crummy picture, but it at least lets you see what the bottle looks like. It a quick dry top coat by Revlon. I've been pleased with it. Its on top of the mani I have on in the picture, which I've been wearing for 3-4 days now. I have a little tip wear, but other than that its still perfect. And I'm pretty hard on my hands, dishes, laundry, typing, farm work....


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## Nic1986 (Feb 28, 2014)

Oh, and I have the top coat on over a Deborah Lippman polish. So, obviously not a Revlon polish, none of the color came off when I put on the top coat. I've had other top coats that did that tho.


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## Pfff (Mar 4, 2014)

Maybe it's just the "Extra Life" that does that. Thanks! I'm sure I've seen it at my local shop, I'll give it a shot!


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## gidgetagogo (Jun 7, 2014)

Pfff said:


> I saw some of those tips but I had some problems with them.
> 
> For example my veins are bluish or greenish depending on how you look at them. And my skin looks yellowish compared to other people (I am like completely yellow compared to my best friend), but I still can see a clear pinkish undertone on my hands. I tried comparing gold and silver, but I really couldn't stray from the fact that reddish blond and gold look like I'm overdoing the "gold" thing (I usually wear silver things, but maybe just because I like silver). And the only colors that I could define that I liked on me are blue or cyan (which I was told that it wasn't very defining) and I dislike how beige colored stuff looks on me. I tried picking some differently colored items and putting them next to my face to see how it looked but I really couldn't notice if they suited me or not.
> 
> ...


Your tone sounds similiar to mine I am a combination of cool and warm but not completely nuetral. I have light eyes which makes my eyes pop and I am more of a cool in the dead of winter. However I tan easily and become more of a warm - gold looks great on me with just the smallest bit of sun exposure. I wear just about any nail color I like with the exceptions of reds, burgandy, and yellow toned nuetrals. Polish should be fun I wouldn't over think it to much. You can try sinful colors polish which dispite how cheap they are are 3 free and highly pigmented. Just remeber to always use a base coat they have a bad rep for staining. I use china glaze top coat which makes my polish dry to the touch within a couple minutes just don't do dishes or shower for a while. - hope this helped


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